Mold - Worst I've ever seen. Ever

[Jerehmy]

Was doing a structural evaluation of what is cheaper to do - demolish a building or make it weather-tight. Came across some crazy mold, thought I'd share --. Was from last year, forgot to share.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6uadx1c9k7p0xpt/Pictures 541.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0n7phfxsu0fjbu0/Pictures 542.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ws7n7m1pawsj8nf/DSC_0153.jpg

 

[n93s412]

Hopefully you were equipped with a mask!

 

[concretemasonry]

Doing it to make it reusable will be very costly unless it is a great location and the owner has the pockets and time to go through the compliance (disposal, labor, materials) to rebuild. Mold and the spores are costly to eliminate.

More photos and details/extent may help for future comments.

Dick

Engineer and international traveler interested in construction techniques, problems and proper design.

 

[Triangled]

Never saw anything like it.

 

[racookpe1978]

Asbestos (asbestos tiles, shingles, wallboard or ceiling boards, pipe insulation, HVAC insulation or equipment insulation, or loose ceiling insulation), lead paint, other hazmat stuff need to be disposed of or removed, cleaned out and rebuilt before the real work begins?

Might make a big difference if you need 4x the cleanup cost compared to starting from a bare slab of concrete. Besides, rebuilding from bare concrete might .....

 

[CELinOttawa]

I thought I'd seen bad mould.... Clearly I was very much mistaken. That is unreal.

 

[Ron]

Has this material been tested? Is it schlerotinia? Does it have a high level of calcium included? Is this a combination of efflorescence and mold? Any chance this was in an old brewery.

Additional info would be helpful for all of us.

 

[a2mfk]

That is so amazing it looks like an internet fake/spoof...

Ron- what is schlerotinia? My google search only led to plant fungus articles, like in peanuts and corn. No good pictures.

It oddly looks like spray-on polyurethane foam.

 

[dcarr82775]

I thought the time I saw a mushroom growing on a joist was impressive, but this one....wow

 

[a2mfk]

nothing bigger than this fungus:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-largest-organism-is-fungus/

 

[dik]

If it was from last year... did you find out what it was and how to remedy it?

Can't even tell what the substrate is that it is growing on. The fungus? if that's what it is, that Ron mentioned is not common in these areas, but can be pathogenic. I've heard of it, and that's about it.

Dik

 

[jgailla]

That thing looks alive. I think I'd crap my pants if I saw it in real life.

 

[Jerehmy]

The build is 50ftx90ft x 60ft high that I'm pretty sure has been decided to be demolished. the room is just 14'x14' first floor framing section. We already had the environmental guys come in and give estimates for everything, I just wanted to share the pictures because I've never seen anything like it.

No it wasn't an old brewery. It's an old masonic temple that was sold and used as an apartment but was let go by the owner. Was odd that only ONE portion of the entire first floor framing had this mold. It was cordoned off or anything.

Location is Northern Pennsylvania. Not sure what kind of mold it is. I had a mask on but I was very very surprised when I walked in and looked up.

 

[Ron]

a2mfk...schlerotinia is a white mold that looks like what is shown in the photos, though usually a bit more fibrous.

 

[Jerehmy]

wasn't* cordoned off or anything. And the environmental guys didn't say it was poisonous so hopefully it wasn't schlerotinia.